Hurry up and wait

I spent part of the afternoon waiting for the marina crew to launch a couple of boats before they could bring Ariel's mast down to ground level so I could install the new foil, wire our new masthead tri-color, and give the mast a good cleaning. All I managed to accomplish was to run the duplex wire through the mast and tap holes in the masthead fitting to secure the tri-color. It's amazing how much time it takes to do so little.

Thanks to the design of the AquaSignal mounting plate, I had to modify the base to fit alongside the strap on the masthead. Fortunately, my local marine store was kind enough to let me use their bench grinder so I didn't have to make a run home and back. Now that the base is modified, I have to carve a new groove in the light bulb base to orient the dome in the appropriate position. It would have been nice if the manufacturer had included multiple notches to make it possible to mount the light baseplate in different configurations. This is an older unit, so perhaps they have changed the design.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get the foil installed, finish the masthead light installation and wiring, and clean the mast before stepping on Thursday. It's raining now and it's supposed to continue into tomorrow. Hopefully that will change.